This disclosure relates generally to beds. More particularly, this disclosure relates to beds that have one or more electronically-controllable features, such as raising or lowering different sections of the bed, weighing a person positioned on the bed, monitoring the bed to detect a person exiting the bed, communicating with a healthcare communication system (such as a nurse call system), or providing a mattress therapy such as pressure relief, percussion, vibration, or rotation. Such beds may be found, for example, in healthcare facilities, homes, and other locations in which care is provided. Some examples of such beds are the TotalCare® Bed System, the VersaCare® bed, the CareAssist® bed, and the ExcelCare® bed, which are available from the Hill-Rom Company, Inc. Some examples of beds that have electronically-controllable features are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,957,461 and 6,279,183.
Sometimes, beds that have electronically-controllable functions are equipped with an internal bed communication network. For example, one or more bed controllers and bed function modules may be connected to the bed network, so that control signals from the bed controller(s) are communicated to the appropriate bed function modules via the bed network. Some examples of beds that have an internal bed network are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,771,511; 6,584,628; 7,237,287; 7,296,312; 7,451,506; 7,480,951; and 7,657,956.
Beds that have electronically-controllable functions may have one or more user control modules, which allow a patient, caregiver or other person to control certain features of the bed. Typically, user control modules are mounted to a siderail, endboard, or other support structure of the bed. Some examples of user control modules are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,320,510 and 7,296,312; as well as U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2007/0180616 and 2008/0235872.
Some user control modules limit access to certain bed features. Some examples of user interfaces that have lockout/enable buttons are disclosed in U.S. Patent Nos. 6,320,510 and 7,296,312. An example of a system in which patient controls are enabled or disabled in response to the presence or absence of a caregiver is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,876,303 and 7,443,302.
Some beds can be connected to a healthcare facility's computer system and/or other external computer systems, to send data generated at the bed to the external system. For example, a bed may have sensors that detect when a patient has exited a bed, if the bed's brake is not set, or when a siderail is down. Upon detecting such a condition, the bed may send an alert signal to a master station of the healthcare facility's nurse call system. The master station may then send an electronic notification to a remote device, such as a patient station or a mobile unit used by a caregiver. Some examples of systems in which beds may communicate data to a hospital communication system are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,319,386; 6,362,725; and 5,699,038; and U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2008/0224861 and 2007/0210917.